Density Driven Agenda Outside the Uptown Community Plan Update
According to residents of Uptown who are monitoring development in the Uptown Community, that includes University Heights, Hillcrest, Bankers Hill, the Medical Complex, Mission Hills and Middletown, the 2024 Hillcrest Focused Plan Amendment (Uptown Community Plan update) resulted in a huge number of additional, allowable housing units, 17,000 in fact.
In total, there is enough development allowable now on Washington, University, Robinson, 4th, 5th, 6th and many other streets in Uptown to accommodate in the Uptown community all of the growth forecast for the City of San Diego in the next 25 years. That’s an additional 65,000 people. Which brings attention to the Columbia project in Middletown, a proposed 14-story, 172 foot tall high-rise at 3677 Columbia Street, behind India Street’s International Restaurant Row. It has received large opposition from residents and business owners in the area.
The 161-unit project, with only 70 parking spots, aggravates the current parking and traffic issues on a single-lane (20 foot wide) divided street. Representatives from the San Diego Fire Department have already stated that the east side of Columbia will need to be red-curbed (removing 16 parking spots) to support a fire lane to exclusively support this high-rise. The new California state law (AB413) will further remove neighborhood parking. The net effect will be a large increase in the demand for the limited street parking, creating new neighborhood tensions for residents and businesses (patrons and employees). Regular street blockages will back up traffic into nearby high-traffic intersections. India Street restaurant owners are vigorously opposed due to the predictable loss-of-business impact.
Developers, according to local community members, can meet the demand in other locations– which have already been authorized in the Uptown Community Plan and zoning. The many new buildings under construction make it evident that developers already have ample opportunity to build large housing complexes.
According to Tom Mulaney of Mission Hills, “Some claim that we are trying to prevent new housing. Fact is, we are simply trying to channel new development into parts of Uptown already approved for higher density, in suitable locations.”
Middletown residents say that this precedent setting development on the hillside negatively impacts the entire community and that the City is using its Complete Communities (CCHS) program to push this project through its approval process without any community review, comment or appeal.
They also say that they support responsible development and are against an ill-conceived project that will hurt the community, its residents and businesses. To learn more, visit www.StopColumbiaHighRise.org.
Category: Architecture, Government, Historical, Housing, Local News
